The gym was full of young and old Badger energy on November 25 as alumni former basketball players gathered to take on our varsity boys team. With Gordon Fields as their coach, and alum Gabe Perkinson '06 on the bench to add advice and encouragement, the alums met at 6pm to warm up and take on a younger team that has been practicing and conditioning together all year. Alum players ranged in graduation year from '05 to '25, and included Alden Scott '24, Ford Scott '21, Matt Meriwether '05, JD Verniero '07, Peter Cathcart '13, Jacob Camarata '24, Jordan Anderson '23, Latrell Winkey '18, Amir Gregory '25, Matt Mahoney '11 and Scottie Chambers '15. The gym was filled with current and past students and parents, and current and past faculty. There were alumni children and the Student Senate sold snacks. The varsity, coached by Sam Dale, got off to a lead in the first quarter, but the score was almost tied at the half. There were referees on hand for the game, but there's always a little good-natured rule-bending fun in this friendly competition. The second half found the alums slowing down a bit and the deep varsity bench picking up points to win 74-62, the first varsity win in several years. As Gordon says, "We connected the old with the new - that's the goal. We're all Tandem so we all won!"
We had a great group at this year's John A. Davis Memorial Turkey Bowl, held the day after Thanksgiving on the soccer field. The Turkey Bowl unites Tandem community members of all types - past and present, young and old - in a fun few hours of referee-free, high-scoring soccer playing and camaraderie to work off some post-Thanksgiving lethargy. The event has been a Tandem tradition for years, but was renamed to memorialize former teacher and soccer coach John Davis after his death in 2016. Many thanks to the folks who turned out to play and connect, and to Tiffany Norman, Nemanja Cetic and Tracy Proctor, for running the gathering. It was a lovely day for Badger soccer.
We're so proud to share that Tandem alum Dean Lockley (TFS '20) is now in Thailand playing professional basketball in the TEBA Unsigned league on the Udon Thani Volcanoes team. Dean made his season premiere as a guard on October 24, scoring 22 points and getting 11 rebounds! Their next game is October 31 - some games stream on Ignite Sports TV. The league has a short season and players compete to earn a signed position on a TEBA league team. Dean played guard here at Tandem, then played for Longwood University and Bryant and Stratton College. Good luck, Dean!